The one I’ve been meaning to go back to the most from my pre-joining the group days. Great album! Sometimes 90s rock? alternative music? just sounds the best
I already knew and loved Today and Disarm, but they are truly the heart of this album and I’d say easily some of the best songs of the 90s. Disarm is so beautiful and Billy Corgan’s voice (which in some contexts quite an acquired taste) captures the anguish of that song perfectly, and then those strings come in! A song I always want to listen to. Today I remember from seeing the video as a kid and loving that crazy painted ice cream van and thosr little melodies, but also its deceptive emotional heart (what was definitely not the greatest day of their lives).
I thought the album as a whole a little long but there were lots of songs that I liked and would revisit (Hummer and Mayonaise off the top of my head).
Assuming Melon Collie… might be on this list somewhere and looking forward to delving deeper into that
I finally listened to an album!! obviously metal is not my most listened to genre so this was not my favourite. but I loved the song names (poison was the cure, tornado of souls) and also those guitars were electrifying
this was not for me and wouldn’t want to listen again. I felt more positive at the start but it really grated on me and it took a lot to resist the urge to skip billericay dickie
had a nice groove and quite pleasant to listen to overall. I loved hearing the intro of that lady and recognising it getting sampled by kendrick. also loved around 1.40-2.00 of summer breeze. overall nothing particularly stayed with me but enjoyed it more than I was expecting
I enjoyed this quite a lot and my dad loved giving me little facts as we were listening (neneh cherry backing vocals). I prefer soul mining and I was hoping a few more if the songs might sound a bit like the ones I knew from that album but I appreciated the sound here (big drums) and the intensity, and found the political content really interesting
I’m sorry to say I was ready for this to be over within the first minute of starting the album and it didn’t grow on me
Had a brief flicker of joy when the opening of I Am A Pilgrim reminded me of the start of 5, 6, 7, 8 by Steps
Can see why the compilers of the book liked this one because it doesn’t really sound like it was made in 2019. I remember hearing of michael kiwanuka when his first album came out but never listened to much of his stuff. this was pretty cool! I loved hero, solid ground and light. the others washed over me as I making dinner, but congrats to michael on winning the mercury prize!
“no touch too heavy, no tempo above a resting heartbeat” were what the album notes said, and this was unfortunately too languid for me
This is the first album we’ve had where I had never heard of the artist before and I enjoyed branching out into something completely new. a few songs I enjoyed on here
there were quite a few moments that sounded so close to going into something I would really like but it didn’t get there
I have been so keen for the day when an album came up that I knew already and knew would immediately get 5 stars.
she is the best!! If asked I will always say green light is my favourite song of all time and I truly think everything on here sounds amazing. no bad songs, lots of range and drama, and the highs are so thrilling. green light, supercut, the louvre, perfect places, sober are all huge highlights but I love it all.
huge shoutout to jack antonoff’s production which is often maligned but transcendent on these songs and I think went on to inform a lot of pop production in the years since.
thank you ella and see you next month
I’m sorry this was a tough one for me
This was such a huge album in my house throughout the 2010s and if I had to guess probably one of the most played too (Half Light II especially).
The Suburbs epitomised my music taste arouns this time and I can remember the day I went to buy the CD while doing photography for a VA project in the city, and I think I subsequently incorporated lyrics or images from it into various art projects.
The album as a whole maybe does not hold up quite as well as it once did and I found a few songs in the middle that dragged a bit, but hearing Sprawl II, Suburban War, City With No Children, Ready To Start again really unlocked something in me so I’m still going 5 stars.
The suburban dystopia themes really spoke to me and I watched the interactive music video for We Used To Wait (it pulls in all these Google Streetview images of your childhood home ans shows them all overgrown and inhabited by humans) so much because it made such an impression on me.
Not from this album but Afterlife was my all time fave Arcade Fire song
Found this fun to listen to and enjoyed hearing the little live bits
This was great! I was complaining only yesterday that I was disappointed I hadn’t discovered more new music that I really enjoyed through this project, but I enjoyed this one start to finish and found lots of new songs that I will be adding to rotation. The songs sound big, the hooks are sharp and the melodies that I maybe wasn’t sure about at the start of each song wormed their way into my head by the end.
Fave was probably Last Chance on the Stairway but overall great listen
This was more enjoyable than I expected and it actually grew on me as I continued listening to it after a not very positive start. This is not really my type of music but quite liked Omaha and Sitting By The Window.
Kinda fun and I liked some of those sci fi bits in the opening but it didn’t evolve that much for me afterwards.
Fun fact the first time I heard of George Clinton I assumed he was related to Bill
I recently read something about The Hives and how they were compared to ZZ Top in their early days and so I think that set up higher expectations for me. Move Me On Down The Line was okay and the I did recognise the opening of The Grange but I would have loved a bit more melody
Great album! I listened to this straight after the other The The album a few weeks ago and there were so many songs I recognised and enjoyed. For sure the more pop and political of his albums but full of gems. This Is The Day is so good, I loved the 9 minute groove we got into with Giant, and Perfect is a new found fave. Definitely plan to return to this
Add metal to the list of genres that I’m not hugely knowledgeable about, but I was expecting this to be a lot heavier and harder to listen to. So enjoyed it more than I thought I would and can see why people might love it. I didn’t really know any of the songs but great tie in since I watched the new 28 Years Later film today and there was a great Iron Maiden moment
I’m sorry to say this type of music just does not really excite me and so I couldn’t even really pick out any notable moments. On the plus side the album was quite short
Once again, something that I’ve enjoyed quite a bit more than expected. Those opening two songs are great and it’s lovely just listening to her voice. In saying that, while I thought the album was good, it’s not really something I could see myself choosing to listen to.
Go listen to What Have I Done To Deserve This? by Dusty and the Pet Shop Boys
This was not bad! Another artist I’ve never heard of before so it was good to branch out. My favourites were Broken Hearts and Glamour Boys, which are not songs I would have expected to find based on the opening few tracks. Quite cool!
It was fine, not really my favourite or that memorable except for those moments when it unexpectedly went a bit sea shanty-esque. Loved the album title
oh I am thrilled for this one. When I was a kid I had a long obsession with garbage trucks and when I was given my allocated dial up internet time I would often google things like « garbage » and to my great disappointment instead of information about actual garbage I got the band instead. Anyway since them I have come to love them and « Vow » in particular but I’ve never listened to a full album.
I love how crisp everything sounds and the way the sometimes quite heavy guitars play off the melodies and Shirley Manson’s vocals. Vow is probably in my top 5 songs of the 90s and I don’t really think any of the album tracks come close but I did really enjoy listening to it
l insisted that my parents listen to this while we were having dinner and it was quite an experience. Genuinely funny the way some of the sounds were deployed in here. Always grateful to hear some synths and there certainly have not been enough synth-based albums on the list so far. Can only imagine how revolutionary this was at the time and the people it inspired
Björk is someone who I would say I love without necessarily knowing a huge amount of her music, and so this was an interesting album to listen to, especially because it was quite sonically different to the songs of hers that I knew. The vocal textures were overall a little harsh and not always that pleasant, but I was definitely technically impressed by what she did. Triumph of a Heart also has such an iconic video which definitely elevates the song for me.
I assume we have several more Björk albums to go on this list because I feel like I can think of at least 4 that seem more famous than this one
Can I just say those voices are so lovely! I wasn’t really able to pick out individual songs too well but as a whole I really enjoyed listening to this.
It feels like we’be been on a real round the world trip this week. This album unfortunately reminded me a lot of this Christmas cocktail lounge album my parents always put on when I was growing up, which I hated, but this had a few fun moments. Particularly enjoying the beginning of Hong Kong Mambo, which I found quite thrilling (the rest of the song not so much)
To me this wasn’t super remarkable but sitting outside on a lovely Friday evening in summer listening to this was quite a vibe
I love pop punk!!! I’m sure there’s lots of debates around where exactly this fits into the pop-punk-rock continuum but it was a lot of fun. I was worried when the first song was that little skit (I generally hate skits on albums) but after that I really got into this. You do get a pretty good sense of how each song is going to sound and the way the elements are going to come together, but I also love how distinctive Dexter’s voice is.
similar critique to a lot of other albums we’ve heard is the songs start to sound a bit the same towards the end.
come out and play so fun!!
I played this nice and loud and imagined I was another 90’s angsty teen (perhaps a neighbour of the one listening to the garbage album).
My first encounter with Sigur Ros was seeing their video for Gobbledigook in 2008, with a bunch of people running nude across the Icelandic countryside (still great). And in a huge coincidence, I was actually listening to one of their later albums yesterday morning because I needed an appropriate soundtrack for the novel I’m reading set in Iceland.
And then this album came along!! Perfect audio accompaniment for me to really get absorbed in (also a section of the book actually mentioned Sigur Ros while I was listening to them). I didn’t really know the very early Sigur Ros stuff very well, but it’s easy to get lost in it and I found it quite beautiful and peaceful.
I really liked how unhurried this album was, taking its time to open up and going on a journey with each song. I maybe prefer their later stuff just being a bit more structured and tight but this was great. I would definitely return to this and keen to get through the rest of their discography too
Staralfur was my fave
I don’t mind the sound of this but it felt long. Gutfest 89 was quite fun? And I liked the radio spoken word interludes and announcements
This had such a soothing opening. I love those little flickering electronic beats and pyramid song is so good. It is very kid a: the sequel, but that’s pretty good for me and it for sure reminded me of how good Everything In Its Right Place sounded in the cinema during 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (I know wrong album). I will admit listening in the bush was maybe not the ideal location and the second half didn’t stand out much to me but it was nicely atmospheric in the vein of sigur ros
Really struggled with this one but at least it was only 28 minutes
sometimes these albums are just too long and it starts to feel like homework. especially a lot of these older classic albums because there’s so many reissues and deluxe editions i have to make sure i’m not listening to a version with too much extra stuff, but the first one i clicked on for this was 70 songs long. Thankfully I’m just doing the 23-song version (still very long!). I was anxious at the start but very into what is life
Album cover is great but I’m sorry this holds absolutely no interest for me
I didn’t really have the patience for this (it’s been a tough few days of listening for me), loved some of the rockier instrumental moments in love lies bleeding and parts of grey seal but didn’t enjoy every time he started singing. also it was very long!
bring back albums that are less than one hour long!
Edit: Ok sorry I’m taking that back because the album is lumped together with the follow up Streetheart on streaming, more than doubling the length (not Dion’s fault). Unfortunate because I enjoyed the first few songs from Streetheart more than anything from the actual album
Never listened to a Bruce Springsteen album before and honestly didn’t even know some of his bigger songs. But this does contain my favourite (I’m Going Down, discovered via a Vampire Weekend cover) and Dancing in the Dark (huge fkr a no lights no lycra fan like me). On the whole I think I expected a bit more and wanted a few more songs to jump out at me (especially after reading there were 7 US top 10 singles on here). But I’m feeling generous after the last few days so up to a 4
this was ok! not the biggest fan of this sound but more exciting to me than some recent entries
I don’t know if I’d ever heard Hotel California (the song) in full before but I found it so underwhelming. One of the most famous songs of all time???? The rest of the album was also unremarkable to me
please get me out of the 70s! I write this before I’ve listened to a single note but this is how I feel. But it could be great!
Ok I really enjoyed the sound of this and you can’t say that it overstayed its welcome. Songs were punchy and catchy, lovely fuzzy quality. Ex Lion Tamer was great!
Edit again: I was still ready for it to end because I guess it didn’t feel like it progressed too much, but still some great punk (?) songs in there
I wouldn’t really say there were any songs on here that I enjoyed, sorry randy
I think this was pretty much what I would have expected this to sound like, but I didn’t mind it.
I did start to find the cheeriness a little bit overwhelming as we continued through
I grew up in an anti-Michael Jackson household and didn’t really know any of his music until after he died, and even then have never really been a fan so this was interesting as it’s not one of his albums where I feel I know many of the songs.
And I didn’t really enjoy it very much. After the first two tracks I found it quite dull and was relieved to get to the end. These songs didn’t feel like they had any of the features that make his hits so distinctive
good riddance to the 70s
this was great! never heard any of these songs before and also very interested in the 90s britpop lore that inspired it. definitely on the longer side but I got so on board for the journey of this album and how ambitious it was. there’s a lot going on but I enjoyed it
(edit to add I’m not sure if I needed a 17 minute song at the end but it wasn’t unpleasant to listen to)
I think it’s a very impressive album in scope and concept but not necessarily one I enjoyed listening to a huge amount. There were sounds I enjoyed moreso than particular songs, but gave some points for commitment (personally I wouldn’t have followed the story from the lyrics). my favourite song was maybe goodbye blue sky, although I did also love the theatrics in bring the boys back home.
Growing up with the scissors sisters version of comfortably numb as my default did somewhat ruin the original for me
Going into this with high hopes because of how much I love LMK (hugely underrated song) but I’ve never listened to the rest of this album. I fear it veers a little too R&B for me but those are some lush soundscapes, I just wish they went a bit harder
some thoughts as I listened:
- for a long time I’ve found gotta get up to be quite annoying and I fear that did extend a little bit to some of the other songs
- quite funny album title
- sometimes things are just a little too jangly for me (this was one of the times)
- I did like Without You
- I was hoping the Harry Nilsson song that lana del rey sings about where his voice cracks at 2:05 would be on this album but unfortunately it wasn’t
- omg Coconut was so annoying
A pretty fun album! Singles are amazing and I also particularly enjoyed Picture This and Sunday Girl. I appreciated getting a full album of upbeat songs
This felt kinda relentless and intense, but at the same time I don’t feel like a lot of moments jumped out at me. Lazarus and Sue (Or In A Season of Crime) were my favourites
I’m sorry to say this but I don’t particularly enjoy this style of singing and in most cases the music wasn’t exciting enough for me to overcome that. In saying that, obviously Respect sounded great, but to me that was also quite an outlier
sounded quite dated and uninspired version of the 80s where the songs never quite took off
I really expected this to be more enjoyable than it was
it briefly got better around Miss Me Blind but not enough. also Romance Revisited was a nice song to finish on even if it originally wasn’t part of the album and felt like it shared almost no sonic DNA with the rest of it
it starts out fun and it’s a nice jolt of energy but I don’t think this album really has any of my favourite Ramones songs and it was all sounding a bit the same by the end (I’m sure a classic Ramones critique)
all to say I wish I enjoyed this more but also would probably go back to it
I knew one song by The Thrills growing up (Whatever Happened To Corey Haim? - great song) and it’s not on this album! So I was surprised this was significant enough to make the list
I quite enjoyed the vibe, kinda mame me think of Phantom Planet California which I guess is a similar time
Overall I didn’t think it was bad but I wondered what made it stand out from
other early 2000s indie albums which I feel like may have aged better?
question for us all: should live albums be allowed to count for this list? especially since I’m imagining some of the same songs could have already appeared elsewhere in here. no double dipping!!
thankful to not listen to 2 hours of this because I didn’t like it that much
was very surprised that one of the lines in summertime blues was also used in a pj harvey song i quite like
An album I don’t think I’ve ever listened to in full but have been meaning to! Iconic singles on here and ones that I remember loving in year 4. Christmas 2005 I was so disappointed to be given the Green Day International Superhits album because it didn’t have any songs from this album (I would later learn that their early career songs were also great).
Lots to love here: the ambition, the storytelling, the dynamics and also the brazen political messaging. Also, songs like Boulevard of Broken Dreams and Holiday still sound so good. I love Jesus of Suburbia even though I have to brace myself for the r-word every time I listen to it.
4 stars only because the second half did not really live up to that opening run. However, Whatsername is a great closer and now one of my favourites
I’m just going to say upfront, I feel one of the biases of this list, which already has a lack of albums from this century, is that of those precious few they seem to (like the Grammys) elevate late career albums from artists well past their artistic peak based on name alone. Like, are we saying Bruce Springsteen was releasing some of the best music of 2002? We shall see!
Sorry Bruce! guess I picked the wrong day to make that statement. I’m only four songs in but surprisingly think this is great. Don’t know any of these songs but I am vibing with it. Production feels more timeless conpared to Born in the USA and also maybe more nuanced?
As a whole, pretty good album
this one was not for me (one of my least favourite so far)
I kinda enjoyed the last song so it was a shame it took 1 hour and 10 minutes to get to it.
Took me a few attempts to get through the album. Had to stop after track 3 for an hour’s respite because it felt like I was torturing my family at dinner
another day, another album
such a good sound!! most of the songs didn’t stand out too much individually but enjoyed listening to it overall
I knew and loved Glory Box and Sour Times already so they were great bookends to the album
it’s far too long and apparently this is only volume 1! Also feels like a cruel punishment giving us another live album from the 70s within a week
I would say the whole thing kinda just washed over me, but the 10 minute long final two tracks were definitely starting to test me
Highlight was Saint Dominic’s Preview but i couldn’t tell you why
I’m sorry but this was just too indulgent for me and I didn’t need to be hearing 19 minute tracks.
Maybe also harsher on this one because THERE’S JUST BEEN TOO MUCH THIS WEEK
I’ve spent probably 4 hours listening to live albums from the 70s that I didn’t enjoy
Also a confession that I skipped four minutes out of the middle of the last song but don’t think I missed much
This was definitely a welcome change but also still a bit much for me. Lots of interesting samples and I understand that this was quite a visionary release even if not really in my wheelhouse. Tearz was a nice closer
My favourite of the live albums by far, even if only because this one felt so much more full of life and urgent. I can’t say that I loved any of the songs but it exceeded my expectations
I’m sorry that it provoked anti-Irish hate
I liked that this one actually sounded like a live show that it might have been fun to attend
I don’t know it was fine? Listened to it yesterday and don’t really remember anything
Never really grew up listening to the Beatles (obviously aware of them) and haven’t listened to one of their albums before. I was surprised that I knew Drive My Car (without knowing it was them), interesting to listen to Norwegian Wood a decade after reading the novel, album as a whole was fine but I just could never see myself loving a Beatles song
I could get into this. Just pretty pleasant to listen to. Thank you Miriam
Wasn’t sure what to make of One More Dance?? he was just laughing so much about her husband dying
Connected is an A+ song, although I remembered it being faster?
Good sinister vibes throughout this
It is a very specific vibe and the first few songs I was worried it would all end up being too similar but I was loving it by the end. Fun!
I don’t mind Californication-era RHCP but in general I hate their funk/rap esque songs and I mostly still feel like that after this album. They can just sound quite obnoxious?? there was a pop music website I used to follow that always referred to RHCP as the worst band in the world, and this album is aesthetically and sonically very much in opposition to what they liked
I get Under The Bridge which I think is rightly a classic, and quite liked I Could Have Lied
Much like I was instructed to, I tried to listen with an open and relaxed mind. It certainly felt educational but I don’t think I would listen to any of these again. Hard to judge because I’m also clearly not listening in the way that was intended
One of those albums where I start to ask « how much longer is left? » and then check and we’re still on track 3. safe to say, not a good day for me to be back in the 70s
This was pretty good, hey! Who would’ve thought? Recognised more than I expected to, which is always a pleasant surprise
I was not feeling inspired by this at first but I really came around to it! it was those great horns and the « black is black is black is black » chant
I am thankful that I read the wikipedia description, but also I feel like I would have loved this anyway. What a fun little ride, love that he just decided to make this, very evocative, loved that his name kept getting mentioned as a victim/detective/something else. Feels quite funny that this is on the list but easily one of my faves so far. I'll be listening to parts of this again I think
I thought this was lovely, and enjoyed it more than expected. This is probably offensive to say but I thought some of it sounded like bridgerton music, and other bits were really interesting and kinda experimental
Loved this album for a Friday night and overall a fun listen.
I remember watching Rage somewhere in the early 2010s and Noel Fielding chose You Can Call Me Al (my first time watching it) and that video has forever stuck with me for its silliness but also as just such a good party song. Nothing else on the album came close to that for me but a pretty solid collection of songs
I love Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea and I did know that this was going to be a very different sort of album so I was bracing myself for that. I think this had some great moments and I really liked the first few songs and the overall ferocity but it maybe became a bit too much for me. Was going for a 3 but then remembered some of the other things I’ve a given a 3 to and had to bump it up
Some very interesting sounds, a few songs I quite liked, moments where I thought I was listening to the cure, but it didn’t quite cohere
1. David Jay 2. Peter Murphy 3. Kevin Askins 4. Daniel Hall - an intriguing 8 minutes
it’s getting 4 stars! it was a blast of energy and pretty fun to listen to, and the songs were short enough to not overstay their welcome
Changes sounded so far different from what I was expecting from this album and even though it wasn’t necessarily a style I like more, I appreciated the versatility.
the whole thing was kinda a vibe, especially good when I put it on and then wandered out of the room for a bit amd so wasn’t fully paying attention. Also quite liked Snowblind
File under: songs that are long and don’t justify their length. I see a 4-track album that’s 46 minutes long and we’re already starting from a tough spot, and this didn’t really convince me. I loved some of the piano around the 5 minute mark of hyperbolic.. which felt like maybe it was sampled somewhere?? as a whole not too bad but not that exciting
I’m sorry but there were a lot of exciting current albums being released today that I really wanted to listen to and I didn’t have 3 spare hours so let’s assume from my short sampling it’s a 2
Put this on and then put the kitchenaid on to make a cake to help get through it. I don’t want to reiterate all of my same recycled complaints from the past but I really didn’t enjoy this
Great album! I was a little bit hesitant at the start because it didn’t have any of the Pulp songs I knew on there and the first seemed more experimental/less accessible. But I really liked this. Also Pulp still out here releasing great songs in 2026!
My favourites were: Sylvia, Glory Days, TV Movie and A Little Soul
If it’s good enough for Olivia Rodrigo, it’s good enough for me! Have actually been listening to her recent cover of The Book of Love quite a bit lately, which felt like great preparation for this, although can one ever be fully prepared for a 69-song long album?
I think Flynn’s prediction for my rating will be a 2, if only because I’ve previously complained about albums on here being so long, but I loved this. Conceptually so cool, so much variety and I never knew what to expect. There were moments where I was like “oh I’m listening to sufjan stevens” and other songs that reminded me a lot of They Might Be Giants. It was a journey and probably my favourite brand new album to discover from the whole project so far. Went back and listened to some of my faves again already today and look forward to delving into some more
I think (although very hard to say) my faves were Crazy For You (But Not That Crazy), Washington DC, Mo One Will Ever Love You, Bitter Tears, Reno Dakota. But will require some more relistening to fully recall each of them
hmmm I just feel like the 21st century representation we’re getting is for the most part not things I would choose. I understand this is kinda the breakout black keys album but to my ears the follow up El Camino is way more exciting and better songs (although maybe seen as too sell out?) Anyway I expected more. Also one of the songs (can’t remember which) reminded me very strongly of the Jack White Alicia Keys James Bond song
This was a bit of a wild one and shapeshifter that I couldn’t quite pin down what it was going to sound like and then it kept changing. Not bad but I remember almost nothing about it except the title was cool
Sound was fun and I liked the energy but didn’t feel like it was that remarkable
I’ve tried to get into Sonic Youth before (unsuccessfully) and this time listening through was pretty much the same. Maybe they’re just too cool for me?
Lots of songs started out sounding good but then lost me part way through. Theresa’s Sound-World was maybe my favourite?
Maybe some of their other albums contain more delights?
Didn’t have high hopes for this but then quite enjoyed Carry On. The rest was whatever but also kinda liked Everybody I Love You
One of my favourite artists and albums! I was thrilled we got to listen to this (also a pleasant surprise considering this list does not seem to especially like women, electronic music or pop).
This came out within the same month as the debuts from HAIM and Lorde (also right before starting the HSC, and all three went on to define my personal listening habits for the rest of the 2010s, so safe to say this was a huge album for me. This kind of synthpop and Lauren’s gorgeous vocals are also my musical sweet spot, and I would listen to endless variations of these songs. They are all hits, each track is full of hooks and there’s lots of interesting lyrical ideas (conceptually, referring to the mother we share is so weird and very Knife-esque).
I think I slightly prefer their second album Every Open Eye but I think this perfectly established their sound and aged so well. Each of their four albums have lots of songs that I still listen to regularly
My faves: The Mother We Share, We Sink, Tether, Lies, Recover, Lungs
Have had a long time aversion to the Jean Genie and so was unsure about this album. Also read in the little intro that it’s perhaps better known for its cover image than any particular songs, which also tracks because I didn’t recognise any of them.
Having said that, I loved Watch That Man and Panic in Detroit (why are these not better known?) and appreciated some of the interesting stylistic choices, even if the piano in Aladdin Sane made me feel like I was losing my mind. But I didn’t necessarily enjoy the rest that much
I actually had quite high expectations for this which were sadly not met. It sounded very 80s not necessarily in a good way, the songs felt a bit hollow? Considering there were three quite big and familiar singles on here i thought it might sound more exciting. I've heard their debut is a lot better?
Didn’t expect to like this and also I didn’t. In year 8 science we watched a documentary and they stuck a camera down Steve Tyler’s throat while he was singing so we could what it looked like and that was pretty cool
So good! I can only imagine hearing this in 1979 and being blown away by all those cool little beeps and synth noises.
I actually couldn't believe when M.E. started and it was the main riff from Basement Jaxx Where's Your Head At?? What an insane sample
go Gary Numan
We’re not getting better song names than Kollaps, Schmerzen hören (hearing pain), Negativ Nein, Mikrobendub, Draussen ist feindlich (the outside is fiendish).
It wasn’t really like anything I’d normally listen to or plan to again, but what a cool project and this was certainly a collection of sounds I haven’t heard in this way before.
I want to lift it out of last place on this site because it’s far from the worst album I’ve heard
Enjoyed this way more than I expected to! Not sure it really deserves 4 stars but 3 felt insufficient for the fun energy going on while I listened to it
Impeccable timing from the generator! I watched their livestream from Coachella yesterday morning (I think one of their first shows in nearly a decade) and it was such a good performance, capturing songs that soundtracked a wide span of my teen years.
And then here was this album a few hours later. I really love how they opened out their sound here, and start exploring a lot of the dance music sounds that each of them would individually pursue later. Enjoyed a lot of the songs more than I remembered and it was a great vibe.
I Dare You is an all time fave for me, and I always think about the music video with very young Millie Bobby Brown finding the band performing in this abandoned LA temple?? Such an underappreciated song I think, and On Hold (plus the On Hold remix) holds up too.
Hoping their fourth album is in the works?
Some moments you can really just tell he wants to be in Oasis or creating some equivalent Britpop act music so bad. As a whole pretty enjoyable! Hard to go past Let Me Entertain You as a favourite
I think this was quite pleasant background in car music but not necessarily much more than that. Very jangly!
Sounds pretty good! Obviously a classic for a reason and those singles plus quite a few of the other songs have this great vitality to them (and many I recognised without knowing), but I don’t know if it reasonated or blew me away too much.
ABBA!! quite excited to listen to this one. Imagine having all of these huge singles all on the one album??? I know ABBA have many more, but still this is stacked
Anyway, besides the joy of hearing the all time greats in context, I loved Tiger and Arrival. I thought it was very cool hearing them do some different things on those songs
I remember the strong feelings evoked by Mamma Mia 2 but it’s interesting that some of these were saved for the sequel
There were a number of the openings of these songs that I was quite enjoying, but then nearly all of them took a turn for the worse, normally when the singing started, or there was suddenly so much flute, or something else wacky occurred that completely changed the song in a way I didn’t enjoy, or that last track turned out to be 18 minutes long.
my mum’s favourite Smiths album, and she was definitely giving it 5 stars while listening. I didn’t know any of these except for Stop Me… (maybe my fave Smiths song), but the real revelation was those dramatic string bits in Girlfriend in a Coma. I liked the expansive and more mature sound here even if the songs didn’t necessarily speak to me
I was excited because I love Billy Bragg (another top played artist in my household growing up) but then realised I didn't know any of the songs from this album and also it was stylistically not at all what I was expecting. Which is obviously the Wilco collab aspect (I am very aware of them and Pitchfork's historic love for them without ever hearing one of their songs) and the Woody Guthrie lyrics tribute concept. Which I think is cool! But not really the sound I would go for
1. King of the Rodeo and The Bucket are both such fun songs. Great highlights from this album
2. Caleb Followill’s voice is often quite annoying and in fact the entire Followill clan can be
3. I voted for Sex on Fire in the 2008 Hottest 100 and then by the time the countdown I desperately wanted it not to win (it did) and so I still harbour some Kings of Leon-related shame because of that incident (my opinion of Sex on Fire now is it’s fine - I no longer hate it nor do I think it’s especially good)
4. My mum hated The Bucket when it first came out and it’s the first song I remember (alongside Float On) where my sister and I would call out “it’s your favourite song” to her whenever it came on
All to say, a few great songs on here and the rest was whatever. obviously big things to come!
I think I’m just not the right person to properly be able to appreciate this album because I agree her voice sounds good but I don’t find anything particularly compelling in this music. It’s pleasant enough to listen to but I don’t think I’d ever feel like this is the music I would choose to listen to. I’m sure you will all have lots of nice things to say about why you liked it
I knew nothing about this and had never never of Nitin before, and made sure to not even look at the genre until it started playing. It was pretty cool! I loved the breakbeats throughout and the collage kind of aesthetics with all of the found sound audio extracts and some of that gorgeous piano (especially on Tides)
Profoundly disappointing (especially the first half) and even moreso when I found out it was Paul Weller behind it. Way too cocktail lounge-y for my liking. Brief uptick some of the songs towards the end but not enough. My dad said there were some great (better) additional songs on the 3 hour version of the album and that’s probably true but am I allowed to listen to them?
This is not olivia rodrigo’s the cure!
I would say I know a fair amount of their song but none of the names from this album were familiar so I was intrigued what it would sound like.
I loved the intense energy on this, especially in The Hanging Garden and The Figurehead (and A Strange Day). it was so menacing but also catchy
man I loved the drums. every song starting just made me think YES give me more of that Lol Tolhurst.
I’m sure there’s more of their albums to come but this actually really encouraged me to dig deeper before then
As an aside, I asked my dad what he thought of this album because he’s always been into the cure and some of their more obscure stuff and he asked me if I knew Just Like Heaven and I was very offended.
This was Apple Music’s number one album of all time (not mine)
This is not really my type of music, so while I appreciate its cultural ubiquity and significance (obviously Doo Wop That Thing is a great song) I don’t fully understand it all. I really liked Everything is Everything and Tell Him, and also liked hearing Ex-Factor for the sample that Drakw used in Nice For What (contextually much preferred it in Nice For What, also I think the best Drake song)
I hope Lauryn is doing okay
This was ok but not very notable. Felt like second half was a bit better?
Loved listening to this through for the first time. Incredible song names, Chicago is such a classic (a song I spent so long trying to identify without knowing any lyrics as a kid), those mournful and occasionally triumphant horns throughout are beautiful. It was a little bit too folky for me at times, and perhaps this is an album that would have rewarded me paying closer attention to the lyrics to work out what was actually going on, but still such a singular body of work.
starting this from the perspective that I’ce always found Isn’t She Lovely too saccharine for my tastes and almost grating, and I think somewhat influenced my feelings about the rest of the album.
There were some great moments (Pastime Paradise, Village Ghetto Land and As were my favourites), I appreciated that there were at times some quite weird things going on, but it also felt like it dragged at some moments and there were sections I didn’t enjoy at all
I don’t know enough about tango or bandoneon to properly comment in this, but this guy had so many albums (looked like in the 100s when I was trying to find this exact recording) and did this president close to the end of his career. But I didn’t love listening to this and time did move very slowly
up the unions! up the proletariat! what a legend, great songs
Help Save The Youth of America was my fave
There were some bits I really liked in here but it also was a lot at some points. Less polish isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it did reduce my enjoyment of this album
Saw the title and foolishly thought Afraid of Americans would be on here. Then I read the little wikipedia intro and didn’t think that really sounded like my interests.
I think I probably liked this less than the last Bowie album we did because I didn’t feel like it was as adventurous, but I really liked the title track!
This album was so much more diverse than I was expecting, and I particularly loved a lot of the instrumentals - they had a fun vibe and good groove. Not sure what I can add to Sabotage except to say it deserves all if its fame and probably more. I wanted to keep playing it on loop when the album finished because what else could bring more fun to my saturday night of school work.
Unexpectedly punk album? The Update and Sure Shot were especially cool
Against all odds and expectations, I really enjoyed Gimme All Your Lovin’ and didn’t mind some of the other songs in there too. It sounded big, it was kinda silly and fun and I way preferred this over the other ZZ Top album we had. Interesting considering this one is from 10 years later. not sure if this is maybe them selling out?
Some quite beautiful songs on here, I guess the rest also sounded good but I’m not sure what it is that makes this so exceptional to be on the list? And I see considered to be right up there as one if the best. I remain ignorant
this wasn’t what I expected it to sound like at all really and also I didn’t really like it
Sounded great! Loved extended souvenir and sacred heart, but the whole thing was exactly my sonic palette
Another one of those classic albums/artists that when I listen to it, actually sounds quite different to my expectations. there was a section that was weirdly country towards the end, and I thought the whole thing was fine to listen to but less rocky for The Rock Band
I entered this a cynic but it did really win me over. As a fan primarily of 808s & Heartbreaks through to (mostly) The Life of Pablo, I came into this knowing only a few songs (none of which were really my favourites) and also thinking that stylistically this would be a long way from the pop maximalism I love from MBDTF. I also haven’t intentionally listened to any Kanye in quite a while (although obviously still exposed to it everywhere) and so was actually very pleasantly surprised by a lot of what I heard. The curation skills were in full effect and there wasn’t a lot that I would describe as obnoxious. School Spirit and Never Let Me Down were the big standouts to me, and I got so excited when those first moments of Autotune flickered in towards the end of The New Workout Plan (I think it was that song?). Quite a few songs that I didn’t enjoy much at the start also won me over by the end, and surprisingly I wasn’t turned off by all the skits (even 2 in a row!) or the 12 minute closing song, although the whole thing was too long. Anyway I really don’t need or want more Kanye West entering ny collection in 2026 but here we are
I feel like this was “a vibe” but didn’t really rise much beyond that. Possibly a factor of most songs having a similar tempo and also probably not intended as music for marking French exams to
Such a great album! I didn’t expect to love this as much as I did. I’m not sure if this is supposed to be the defining White Stripes album because I definitely knew way more songs from the two that came after (Elephant and Get Behind Me Satan), but turns out I was actually secretly familiar with half the album.
Fell In Love With A Girl is my favourite White Stripes song but actually everything sounds great and it feels like there are so many classics on here. The mustachioed (is that still a real word?) underwear model turned PE teacher at our school Mr Fine performed Hotel Yorba on ukelele at our year 10 camp and I remember feeling uncool because I didn’t know the song at the time (but still felt way cooler than the kids playing Bruno Mars’ The Lazy Song on ukelele at the same camp). Also We’re Going To Be Friends is just uncharacteristically beautiful and I shall be listening to that a lot more
Keen for maybe more White Stripes to come?
Also my final thing to say: I reckon half this album is better than Seven Nation Army
I prefered Nico. this was ok but didn’t grab me much and was hoping for something more
It has been discussed before but always interesting seeing an album from within my lifetime from somebody I’ve never heard of (obviously I wasn’t fully across the music scene of 2001 but I have never seen the name Silver Jews before). Wasn’t particularly enjoying or engaged by this but then suddenly quite liked Let’s Not And Say We Did and parts of Tennessee
I think I enjoyed this more than the last Byrds album but didn’t find it anything remarkable
